Natural Cytotoxicity of NC-2.

We have previously reported a new receptor (NC-2) for natural cytotoxicity (NC) on murine leucocytes, identified by monoclonal antibody D9 (mAb D9). Pretreatment of mouse spleen cells with different concentrations of mAb D9 in vitro blocked NC against WEHI-164, whereas natural killing (NK) activity against YAC-1 was unaffected. This paper reports the immune surveillance against the growth of WEHI-164 tumour cells in mice by NC-2 Cells . The kinetics of in vivo reduction in NC activity were investigated by treating BALB/ c and (CBA × C57BL/6) F1 mice with a single injection of 40 μg of mAb D9 and monitoring splenic NC activity by Cr-release assay at intervals from 24 h to 3 weeks. Control mice were injected with OKT8 irrelevant antibody. Results showed a significant ( P < 0.05) reduction in splenic NC activity within 24 h which persisted for up to 1 week. Similar results were also obtained when (CBA × C57BL/6) F1 mice were employed ( P < 0.001). In vivo tumour studies were undertaken to investigate the role of NC-2 cells in surveillance against tumour growth and metastasis of the WEHI-164 fibrosarcoma. When syngeneic BALB/ c mice were injected with 40 μg of mAb D9 and then challenged with 5 × 10 WEHI-164 cells, results showed significantly increased growth rate of the transplanted WEHI-164 fibrosarcoma and tumour nodules in the lungs of animals, when compared to control mice with normal NC activity. Our data support an innate surveillance in metastasis and growth of WEHI-164 fibrosarcoma in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]